Meet the power players that are shaping the city of Worcester's remarkable renaissance

Worcester is in the midst of a renaissance. A flurry of new construction is bringing new hotels, market rate apartments and the transformation of the city's downtown. Meanwhile, the city's dining scene continues to grow by leaps and bounds and the Canal District has become a new destination spot with its mix of dining, clubs, small shops and neighborhood feel.

It's a period of transition for New England's second largest city the likes of which has not been seen in nearly half a century.

How did it all start and who is behind it?

There is no single answer. But as Worcester struggled and then emerged through the great recession, a handful of key players helped to push the city forward and shape the resurgence seen today.

Former City Manager Michael V. O’Brien can claim partial credit helping to engineer CitySquare, the $565 million development project which replaced the hulking Worcester Galleria with a new business, retail and apartment district in the heart of downtown Worcester. That project doesn’t explain the growing bar and dining culture in the nearby Canal District, nor does it explain how Worcester foodie celebrity Michael Covino ended up opening his innovative restaurant incubator on Shrewsbury Street.

The Worcester renaissance is composed of many risk-taking entrepreneurs and political leaders who gave the city the second chance it deserved. But a few have been hugely instrumental, sometimes working on the front lines and other times behind the scenes. Here are some of key players behind Worcester’s renaissance and the roles they've played.

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Alban Murtishi | amurtish@masslive.com

Former City Manager Michael O'Brien

Former City Manager Michael O’Brian led the city of Worcester for more than 10 years, which included seeing the city through one of its largest and most transformative development projects: the demolition of the Worcester Galleria mall.

What followed was the CitySquare development project, which is responsible for bringing Mercantile Center, a Marriott Hotel, 370 new apartments and Fortune 500 insurance company Unum to downtown Worcester. O’Brien gets credit for tearing down that mall that in the late '60s was heralded as the economic savior of Worcester and priming the city for its next evolution.

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Alban Murtishi | amurtish@masslive.com

Former city of Worcester project manager Dan Benoit

In the early '90s, Dan Benoit had a radical idea: Tear down the Worcester Common Outlet Malls.

That idea may not sound so radical now. After all, it’s pretty much accepted gospel in the Worcester business community and among city officials that tearing down the mall was a good idea.

Benoit was a project manager for the city of Worcester, and today he runs his own architectural firm. His thesis on turning Union Station into an intermodal transportation center helped earn him a position in city hall, and also introduced him to the problem of the downtown mall. Union Station at the time was surrounded on all sides by railroads, highways and the mall, which split downtown in two halves.

In 1999, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette published a front page feature on his proposal to tear down the mall, reconnect Front Street to the station, and break apart the gargantuan complex into a mixed-used development site. Sound familiar?

Benoit’s idea earned some hate from critics in the local business community and the administration at the time, but eventually the call to tear down the mall became a political platform for men like Tim Murray and Michael O’Brien.

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(Photo (c)Scott Erb and Donna Dufault)

Niche Hospitality's Michael Covino

If you’ve read anything on Worcester’s dining boom in recent years, you’d be hard pressed to not find Michael Covino’s name or his many restaurants included. His company, Niche Hospitality Group, operates 10 restaurants in Central Massachusetts, including The Fix, Mezcal Tequila Cantina and Bocado Tapas Wine Bar. His eateries are a vital part of Worcester's emerging dining renaissance, and have contributed to the revitalization of restaurant hot spots like the city's Canal District and Shrewsbury Street.

Covino really helped kick off Worcester’s dining renaissance after he opened Block 5 in Worcester’s Canal District in 2005. Twelve years later, Niche has expanded to include eight different restaurant brands at 10 locations. Covino showed that good food can thrive in Worcester, and the market has followed suit.

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Alban Murtishi | amurtish@masslive.com

Developer and Worcester Railers owner Cliff Rucker

A new player to Worcester’s renaissance, Cliff Rucker brought professional hockey back to the city by creating the Worcester Railers hockey team. That feat alone probably would have placed him on this list of key people behind Worcester’s redevelopment. But Rucker saw the big picture: dozens of properties that, given the right investment, could transform neighborhoods.

That philosophy was the driving force behind the construction of the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center, which opened in September in what had been a darkened end of the Canal District. Rucker said he wanted to make an investment that would pay off for the entire district. He hopes the arena draws people not only to the hockey games, but to the surrounding businesses throughout the neighborhood. That philosophy also carried into Worcester’s downtown, where Rucker purchased the Bowditch & Dewey building and the Palladium Theatre on Main Street.

His most recent acquisition was a Main Street that houses popular Worcester restaurants deadhorse hill and Rice Violet.